It is possible to operate a projector designed for high pressure lamps with a simple LED diode; the answer is. … Yes it can … enough of course to be available for searching, basic electronic knowledge, time and ofcourse what else … money.

Long now had nailed to our minds this idea and there remained nothing but to implement it. Let’s share our materials!

For the recipe needed LED

A projector!

In our case we used a SONY VPL-VW50 sponsored friend from AVsite

The service manual of the projector

VPL-VW50 (2)

One LED diode in the power supply of

Chosen a Chinese LED the 100W (purely a cost issue with the power supply and the LENS is not surpassed the 85 euro)

Of course without the proper tools, nothing can be done … This battle took place immediately and started …

Our first job was to make the projector starts without mounted lamp. This proved relatively easy after studying carefully the plans we discovered that with a simple short circuit on begain projector mainboard comfortably without waiting for the appropriate signal from the power supply of the lamp.

This allowed us to have a projector that opens and works not being under without the lamp and the power supply to the inside.

Removing the power supply of the lamp. … He gave us and the suitable place for mounting the power supply of the LED diode (size about a laptop power supply), two birds with one stone i.e. ..

After we finished with this easy piece as it turned out … time to move on to the substance of the conversion, the LED. After we posted the LED to a heatsink from old pentium processor and adapted over the LENS that we had bought together, we began experimenting to create a light beam. Here to say that the LED takes very good cooling firstly because it gets hot enough (you don’t think how) and secondly because at higher temperature it works, so the performance is reduced.

Good gold and LED the Holy of 100w and even more powerful light emitted is rampant in all senses and in all directions. The reason is that this consists of 100 LED diodes of one watt each, i.e. in essence we are dealing with 100 small light sources and not one as with the high-pressure lamp that typically use the projectors. We had to find a way to make these 100 light sources a beam that has a specific direction and even a few degrees. Difficult … but not impossible.

In essence wanted to achieve something in opposite directions …

Here somewhere and started countless experiments which will share with you. As you can see in the photo above and to enable a special lens to concentrate light on a package needs to be placed on some x distance from the light source and also having ψ distance to create the beam focus.

And we have been experimenting with lenses that we had in our possession failed to create decent beam with length of the whole construction (and LED) under 35cm. as you understand It was solution that could not be applied because the projector will become very long. … and I reminded more tanks than projector …

We started talking with various manufacturing companies around the world and trying to find the right LENS that will allow us to create a satisfying light beam, capable to send most of it inside the optical projector.

The solution came through the edmundoptics company and specifically from this LENS that has a focal Length just 5cm. Unfortunately for us a series of mishaps were not possible to receive the LENS from America for this chance to beam of light created by the Visual that we already had in our laboratory.

In essence we managed to send San bundle only about 10% of the intensity of the LED produces 100W in the optical projector.

Clearly it would be easier and much better results if instead of 100 small pockets of light we had only one.

If we were using as a source the highest quality LED by far (and more expensive) LED whitewashed of Luminus, e.g. those then you wouldn’t clearly easier configurability and much better results here to say that most manufacturers use LED projector LED of luminus.

We unfortunately not, because on the edge of our mind there was the question of cost.

Now let’s switch to photographs in order to get a taste …

Here you may get an idea of how necessary it is to create a beam of light and how much difference is there in the final brightness that is directed at our optical …

The power supply LED’s fit completely factory in space that was the old power supply lamp..

Well not to keep you in suspense …. It’s time to see a little picture. Unfortunately the final brightness that we achieved is very small and our frame could not overcome the 50-60 inches. How much greater brightness we could get with proper light beam already observed in earlier photos …

Here some pictures from the final result …

As you see the lack of intensity of light is evident …

We reserve, however, for the future, because already at this time that display this article there are plans for two more projects that naturally you announce from now because their results and the whole process of their implementation will be posted here at projectorjunkies and indeed very analytically.

One project involves conversion of projector with laser diode light source and the other involves three rgb LED projector.

Stay tuned!

1 Comment

  1. Vic says:

    Very interesting article! Not sure when it was first published, but is there any update on the laser or 3 LED conversions? Would be super interested in seeing these..
    Vic

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